Yes. We have three custom pieces of art work decorating our lobby. Courtesy of Creative Canvas and artist Danielle Mase. If you want to check our art, come on Thursdays at 4:00pm for an open house.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
VendAsta JAM
September 21, 2008At VendAsta we just announced our Friday afternoon Jam Sessions. Basically we have decided that we are going to allocate time to allow people to work on anything of, interest to them - as long as it is software. Personally, I love what we are doing here. I wanted to write a blog about it so I have been doing a lot of research and introspection. I really want us all to think about what we are trying to achieve. This isn’t an idea or gimmick to gain more productivity from our staff. This idea is truly more about our attitude, philosophies, environment and culture than some “thing we do”.
What does that mean, you might be asking yourself. Let me explain.
When we first discussed the idea of working on side projects I had a lot of fears. Fears that we would lose focus, fears that it would be expensive, fears that the time would be “wasted”. To alleviate those fears I wanted to impose restrictions. Things like: Projects need to be well thought out and documented, projects need to have some benefit to the company, or projects need to be in area of development we are already in.
Then, I thought about what it is that we originally envisioned VendAsta to be. To paraphrase, we wanted to work with super smart people we like on interesting stuff. To achieve this, our attitudes, philosophies, environment and culture must reflect this. Imposing rules overtop of JAM to alleviate fears is wrong, it is simply not what we are about.
On the face of it JAM is about allowing everyone to have an opportunity to work on ideas that are their own or ideas they personally and individually buy into. But it is more than that. It is about providing people with the luxury of dreaming. It is about giving our people a chance to turn some of their dreams into reality.
People at VendAsta work very hard. When you hire the best and brightest you tend to get people that are ambitious and driven. VendAstians are thinkers, innovators, and leaders full of their own ideas and driven by a strong competitive work ethic, healthy peer pressure, and pride.
JAM is about providing time, money and opportunity for anyone to sell their idea to the VendAsta team. JAM is the mechanism to take something from a dream to an idea, from an idea to a plan, from a plan to a prototype, from a prototype to a product and from a product to a money maker.
JAM products will gain momentum through peer review, open discussion and debate and personal choice. JAM Product decisions will not be made by management and executives. Products that gain JAM momentum will benefit from all the skill sets available; marketing, promotion, critical analysis, development and production environments, business development, testing, monetization, HCI and development.
JAM is also an opportunity to share in the profits and hedge your chances for success. The profits of products built and released via JAM will be shared in a very democratic way with all.
Most of all JAM is about making VendAsta a great place to work with super smart cool people building interesting stuff.
Post by:
Brendan King
Two greatest human inventions…
September 18, 2008…Lightsaber and IPhone. Since Friday they are standard issue for all dev’s here at VendAsta. In this video you can see Ryan demonstrating how to use the force.
Local Press for VendAsta
August 8, 2008The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has printed a story on VendAsta’s funding announcement for its social software initiative MyFrontSteps. The article and some of our smiling faces can be found here 
John Fothergill
What I learned at the VendAsta / MyFrontSteps summer BBQ / Pool Party
July 28, 2008First of all I personally learned that our CTO - Jason Collins - is a swimmer. A swimmer that comes on strong in the end! It is highly recommended to sneak some flippers into the pool to give yourself an edge. PS: I lost. Twice.
Second, we all learned that Allan Wolinski is not just a talent at usability and making solutions intuitive and easy to use; but he can grill a mean steak. Chris Pucci is a top-notch sous chef as well and can tackle your toughest web development challenges (using Drupal, PHP - any and all to be honest) … all while he’s salt and peppering whatever touches that grill.
Thirdly, we witnessed the hero (ok, parenting) efforts of Jon Levesque in saving his own son from the mysterious deep end that can sneak up on any little tyke that’s having way too much fun in the 90 degree water. Jon will also help any potential client learn the benefits of working with the most innovative agile development company for all your complex .net, web application and mobile development needs.
Fourth, you’re bound to learn more about music and the likes of Jeff Buckley when sitting around and chatting with Ryan Baldwin and Kevin Peirce (these two know music!). Might pick up some tips on WPF programming, xslt, xml databases (to name but a few) as well as how to author a runbook and cookbook for fast and efficient deployment methods.
Janak Kapadia will always be the most pleasant guy at the party, Dale Zak is always smiling and having fun (plus the guy is an a m a z i n g developer), Erik Fredrickson might leave but he’s sure to return (with swimmers for all members of his entourage), Sean Lynch is as cool as the cucumber salad on the table… Brendan King, Jeff Tomlin, and John Fothergill are all rock stars and can be seen discussing the MyFrontSteps strategic deployment over the desert table… and in my opinion, Johnny Motherfothergill always has his cool factor at a 10 (including poolside).
Only our Guy Kelsey and Carey Bursaw missed the action… good thing there’s video evidence of Jason Collin’s swim victory!
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I like what Brendan King wrote on his blog IRT Saskatoon’s Fledgling Tech Community and when you see a group like VendAsta (in the office or by the pool), one realizes it is a pretty special blend.
AND we’re growing… so if you’re bored at your current company / no longer challenged by the work you’re doing / wish you too could party by the pool / or just want a change - be sure to talk to us… because we’re hiring more Saskatoon software developers right now. If you want to learn more about any of us… just ask, or visit Driving Force or here. Interested applicants can also visit VendAsta Careers, but if you know any of us - just contact us directly.
Cannonball! COH
2 New Openings at VendAsta
April 28, 2008VendAsta is an equal opportunity employer that offers a great benefits package.
Social Application Developer
VendAsta is looking for a Social Application Developer for its Web 2.0 social networking start-up. We will be starting with the development of a Facebook application and will then proceed onto Open Social. We are seeking an individual that has had previous experience implementing Facebook applications. This individual will design and implement a scalable, flexible platform to support a wide array of social networking features and functionalities.
Candidates located in Saskatoon will be given preference. The salary range for this position is 60k to 70k.
Email your resume and a cover letter to: jobs-001@vendasta.com.
Presentation Layer Developer
VendAsta is looking for a Presentation Layer Developer for its Web 2.0 social networking start-up. Suitable applicants will have a strong sensibility for Web 2.0 interface design and expert knowledge of JavaScript, AJAX, and CSS. This is an ideal position for an experienced developer that displays common sense and has strong HCI skills combined with an eye for design.
Candidates located in Saskatoon will be given preference. The salary range for this position will be commensurate with experience and highly competitive.
Email your resume and a cover letter to: jobs-001@vendasta.com.
Posted by: John Fothergill
Collaboration - See How They Scrum
February 28, 2008When we first started up we were all working on our personal computer. We didn’t yet have any hardware or software. We needed to work. I don’t know if it was Allan or Jason but someone fired up Google Docs so we could at least get to work. That seemingly inconsequential act may well turn out to be one of the best things that have ever happened to us.
Let me point out that no matter how good a product is, change is difficult and usually people have trouble committing. We had no choice. We had nothing else. I will be the first to say that Google documents lack much of the advance functionality of word. Google Spreadsheets, while quite versatile, lack sophisticated graphs and presentations and Google presentations while good is certainly memory and CPU hog. However, Gmail with its lightening quick awesome search and essentially infinite size and the Google Calendar certainly put outlook to shame.
In any case, we had nothing else so we used Google Docs. Certainly not as sophisticated as Microsoft Office. Certainly lacking all the bells and whistles. But as we sat around my living room each working on our own notebook building our business together, something happened. We discovered the true power of collaboration. You might think that eight people editing a spreadsheet or a document at the same time sounds like a nightmare but that is likely because you are thinking about the ”track changes” nightmare that makes you want to throw out a MS Word document and start over. Google Docs just doesn’t work that way.
In the end it’s nothing you can put your finger on at first but rather a number of things that make Google Doc’s brilliant. Things like:
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Easy intuitive instantaneous collaboration.
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No worries about multiple versions of spreadsheets, documents and presentations everywhere.
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Global version control for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
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Easy presentation and sharing of documents, spreadsheets and presentations with people outside your domain (like VC’s).
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No worries about backing up.
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No worries about space.
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Great Calendar.
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Awesome Email.
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Integration.
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Transparent and easy configuration.
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Easy access from any PC from any location at any time.
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No software to install, no licence keys, no costs.
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Constant innovation and upgrades but without the upgrades.
So when we purchased our first set of notebooks (yup notebooks for everyone) we purchased them with copies of Microsoft Office, but a funny thing happened. Hardly any copies of Office got installed. It turns out that we are hooked on Google Docs and hooked on collaboration. If you own Microsoft stock I have a word of advice for you - sell now!
This new paradigm also seems to dovetail extremely well with our new working method - Scrum. Notice I didn’t say “development” method. Scrum isn’t just for developers. It works for business development, requirement building, project planing and marketing too!
Here is how I sum up my feelings why Google Doc’s will overtake Microsoft Office within the next 18 months: Easy, Real, Convenient, Collaboration ALWAYS trumps Configuration, Complexity and Non-Intuitiveness even (maybe even especially) if it is in the name of Security and Control.
Oh and today Google added “Google Sites” their reincarnation of the Jotspot Wiki. I added it to our Google Docs this morning with a simple click. Thank God we will never have suffer another installation of Sharepoint!
See how they scrum:
Posted by: Brendan King
Whirlwind Week at VendAsta
February 23, 2008We had a great week at VendAsta. Jason C and Kevin P spent the week working with Sybase in Waterloo and. Ryan B was up from Regina working with Allan, Guy, Ches and Dale (remotely from London). Jon took off to Jamaica, and I had a lot of fun with a new baby. Also Jeff, John and I made some great strides onNMDK. John also gave the VendAsta site a little upgrade. The next two weeks are going to be super packed with new employee starts and exciting new work.
Posted by: Brendan King
Friday at Vendasta
February 9, 2008I think we may have started a tradition at VendAsta. Come by any Friday after 3pm have a beer and get on camera.
New Arrivals At VendAsta
February 7, 2008We had some great new arrivals this week at VendAsta! We are proud to announce that Kevin Pierce and Ryan Baldwin have joined the VendAsta Team! We have all worked with both Ryan and Kevin in the past and know they are going to make fantastic additions to the VendAsta Team. Ryan can’t wipe the smile from his face, he tells us that this is because he is so happy to be working with us again, but we suspect it might actually have more to do with his escape from Regina ( Ryan is actually returning to our fair city after a stint in Queen City).
We also have a third arrival - Allan’s new Macbook Air. In Saskatoon, at Vendasta, software developers are encourage to participate in choosing their environment. There are lots of different opinions and views on the Macbook.
Here is a little video of the arrival of Kevin, Ryan and the Macbook. Oh, and the video has a twist. If you watch it you will notice the first part is music and video and the second part is the audio track as recorded with the video. As a viewer you might find it interesting how different the actual words and thoughts behind the music are compared to what you might have thought they would be.
